As we have discussed in the past at AdvisorFYI, there is no specific Federal law that prohibits an individual from owning any interest in a financial account in foreign jurisdictions. “However, because offshore financial accounts can be used to hide criminal proceeds or evade taxes, federal law does require disclosure of such accounts.”

Generally, “Congress has directed the Secretary of the Treasury to require residents and citizens of the U.S., or persons in and doing business in the U.S., to maintain records and file reports of transactions and relations with foreign financial agencies.”

Specifically, every “U.S. citizen, resident and businessperson who has a financial interest in, or signatory authority over, one or more bank accounts, securities accounts or other financial accounts in a foreign country”, must “report that relationship to the U.S. Department of the Treasury if the aggregate value of the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year”, annually through Form TD F 90-22.1. Read the analysis at AdvisorFYI

Not according to a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which found that annualized returns on a variety of funds with the same target date vary wildly—some with gains as high as 28% and others with losses of up to 31%. Target date funds, which “are designed to provide an age-appropriate asset allocation for plan participants over time,” are essentially an investment advisor substitute. But, unlike a personal financial advisor, target date funds can’t take into consideration the individualized needs of investors and don’t offer investors the level of disclosure that’s mandated of registered investment advisors. Read this complete analysis of the impact at AdvisorFX(sign up for a free trial subscription with full access to all of the planning libraries and client presentations if you are not already a subscriber).

Summit Business Media today announced that it has assembled a “dream team” of wealth management, financial planning and advanced sales professional reference experts to expand the content and scope of Advanced Markets AdvisorFX, the primary online source of practice-building and client-management tools for financial advisors and insurance professionals.

Advisors can try Advanced Markets AdvisorFX FREE for 15 days by going to http://www.advisorfxinfo.comand clicking on the “Free Trial” button to get started.

Rick Kravitz, Vice President & Managing Director of Summit Business Media’s Reference Division, noted thatAdvanced Markets AdvisorFX’s editorial advisory panel is comprised of experts from the international wealth management team at Thomas Jefferson Law School in San Diego led by Prof. William H. Byrnes, Associate Dean. He added, “Prof. Byrnes and his team bring enormous technical expertise as well as broad insights into the larger trends driving client decisions on tax, investment and wealth management strategies.”

Prof. Byrnes is a former Coopers & Lybrand expert in international law who has consulted for foreign governments as well as Fortune 1000 insurance and institutional investment companies. Other members of his team include:

• Robert Bloink, former Senior Attorney in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and an expert in sophisticated wealth transfer techniques;
• George Mentz, a licensed attorney, MBA, and financial planner who was formerly a Senior Financial Planner and Wealth Manager for an international Wall Street firm;
• Don Goode, an insurance professional and former partner of Potomac West, where he lent active support to the first agent in the history of the insurance industry ever to receive more than $100 million in a single calendar year;
• Mike Rodman, three-time winner of “Top of the Table,” the Million Dollar Round Table’s highest honor, and founder of Advanced Planning Services, a premier advanced sales and advanced underwriting organization; and
• Robert Stuchiner, former Senior Vice President in charge of marketing and strategy for the AIG Affluent Markets Group.

Advanced Markets AdvisorFX’s unique content is designed to give users resources to attract new clients, grow their business and serve more markets. The content menu includes:

• The Advanced Underwriter Service (formerly from Dearborn Financial);
• The Advanced Sales and Reference Service (National Underwriter);
• Concepts and Client Illustrations from Don Cady’s classic estate planning, employee benefits and business planning Field Guides;
• Tax Facts on Insurance and Employee Benefits as well as Tax Facts on Investments, the largest circulation works of their kind in the insurance industry;
• Advisor FYI – daily headlines from media coverage of financial and estate planning issues;
• Advisor’s Journal – lengthy analysis and roadmap guidance on critical taxation and estate planning issues; and
• White papers on major legislation such as the Tax Relief Act of 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Pension Act of 2010 and others.

About Summit Business MediaSummit Business Media is the leading B2B media and information company serving the insurance, investment advisory, professional services and mining investment markets through a variety of channels, including print, online and live events. Summit provides breaking news and analysis, in-depth practice management strategies, business-building techniques and actionable data to the markets it serves. Through its Media and Reference Divisions, Summit publishes 16 magazines, 20 websites and 150 reference titles. Summit’s Event Division hosts a dozen conferences across the spectrum of markets the company services. Summit’s Data Division is the leading data provider of financial, marketing and benefits information on corporations, insurance companies and life, benefits and property-casualty agents.

Summit employs nearly 400 employees in ten offices across the United States.

Advisors choose a hybrid practice model for several client and business oriented reasons. Is a hybrid practice—one allowing you to “conduct both advisory and brokerage business”—right for you? A recently released white paper can help you “understand the considerations [you]… face when choosing the hybrid practice model… and assess the potential benefits and trade-offs that come with the different hybrid choices.” Read this complete analysis of the impact at AdvisorFX(sign up for a free trial subscription with full access to all of the planning libraries and client presentations if you are not already a subscriber).

The SEC recently considered a proposal that would prohibit incentive-based compensation practices that may encourage inappropriate risk.

The proposal arises from Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires the SEC along with six other financial regulators to jointly adopt regulations or guidelines governing the incentive-based compensation arrangements of certain financial institutions. These institutions include broker-dealers and investment advisers with $1 billion or more of assets.

In particular, the Dodd-Frank Act calls upon the regulators to do two things: Read the analysis at AdvisorFYI

A recent report by the Internal Revenue Service shows that total return filings are down this year as compared to the same time last year. The report shows that over 51.927 million individual taxpayers have filed through the end of February 2011. During this same period for the 2009 taxable year/2010 filing year the total number of returns by the end of February was around 53.556 million. The difference between the two years amounts to approximately a decrease of three percent.

What’s more, the average refund for the 2010 tax year/2011 filing season is also down from calculations from the same time last year. This year’s average individual refund is currently $3,129, down $20 from $3,149 in 2010. Read the analysis at AdvisorFYI